


Jim's First Pokémon

by OfficialStarsandGutters



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-27 03:12:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2676854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfficialStarsandGutters/pseuds/OfficialStarsandGutters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That's how Jim ends up with his first Pokémon, who is just as stubborn as he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jim's First Pokémon

**Author's Note:**

> I had originally planned for this to be a series, but it's been months and I've never gone back to it, so I may as well post it. Maybe I'll do a couple of follow on one shots some day. Who knows. For now, enjoy it as it is.

Jim is six when he first meets Meowth.

He is walking home from school by himself. None of the other children walk with him. None of the other children even talk to him, really. He speaks words they don't understand. While they use their fingers to add numbers together, he can do multiplication in his head. While they copy out simple words like 'fog' and 'house' and 'train' into their notebooks, he can name all the planets in descending order of their distance from the sun, can tell you how many constellations there are in the sky, and knows more about Pokémon than any of the teachers do. Jim already has a grasp on ideas and concepts that adults struggle with, and his intelligence confuses the other children. Intimidates them.

He is small for his age. His skin is too pale, his eyes are too big for his face, and already they have traces of shadows beneath them. He walks with his head bowed, but his eyes face forward. Narrowed. Fierce. Defiant.

Coral is not a large town. The school is in the center of it, and Jim lives with his parents just beyond the town limits. It is only a fifteen minute walk from one to the other, but that isn't long enough for Jim. He doesn't like being home. He doesn't like the shouting or the anger or the cause behind the bruises hidden beneath his uniform. So he detours.

He's not suppose to go into the woods by himself. He is aware of this. His mother has told him before, and his teacher reminds the class over and over again. The woods are full of wild Pokémon. It's dangerous. Only when they are bigger and have Pokémon of their own can they venture out of the town alone. Can they go in to the woods.

Jim doesn't care. Jim can look after himself.

He's going to be a trainer some day. He's going to be one of the best. He's going to catch all the Pokémon, one of each, and he's going to win battles, collect gym badges, and go to the Pokémon League. When he's done that, he might become a professor. He can study while he's training, and once he's proven himself, he'll get a lab and study all the Pokémon he's caught, and become a famous professor.

This is Jim's plan.

That's why he likes going in to the woods. If he finds a good spot, and sits real quiet, the Pokémon will come out and go about their business as if he isn't there. Jim likes that. He likes being able to sit and observe them as they move around. He's watched Caterpie and Weedle make their cocoons, and he's seen Pidgey gathering twigs for their nests, and once he even stumbled across a Scyther eating berries.

Some day Jim will save enough money up to buy a Pokéball, and then he'll be able to catch his very own Pokémon. He can bring them in to the woods with him, and battle with the wild Pokémon so that his gets stronger. He won't be able to start his journey until he finishes school, but he can still train for it. Once he catches his first Pokémon.

It is quiet in the woods today. He passes a few Oddish clustered around the base of the tree as he walks, and Pidgeys and Spearow shuffle and coo in the branches above his head. The usual background noise. Until the rustling of a bush catches his attention.

Jim looks over his shoulder, but he can't spot any movement. Can't source the sound. He waits a few moments before continuing to walk, but now he has the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. He tells himself he's just being paranoid. The other children stay out of the forest, and it's not like many trainers pass through their town. They have no gym. They are of no interest to anyone.

It was just a Pokémon in the bushes. Nothing to be concerned about.

Jim finds his favourite spot. It's at the edge of a clearing, so he has a clear view if any Pokémon come out, at the base of a big oak tree. The space between the roots is just the right size for him to settle in to, and this is where he does his homework in the evenings. After settling himself down, he takes his books and props them on his lap, working his way quickly through their assigned sums.

Another noise makes him look up, and this time he quickly spots the source.

The Meowth is small, even for a Meowth, and his body is pressed low to the ground as he quietly crawls forward into the clearing. His movements stop when Jim looks up, so he turns back towards his book, pretending he hasn't noticed while still following Meowth's movements from the corner of his eye.

Thinking he is no longer being observed, Meowth moves further forward. He keeps pausing to look at Jim before he moves further, and within a few minutes, he is at Jim's side. He pokes at Jim's school bag with his nose, giving it a sniff before slipping his head inside.

“Hey!”

Meowth pulls back quickly, baring his teeth and hissing at Jim. Jim, in turn, frowns and tugs his bag away.

“Don't hiss at me. You're the one poking through my belongings.”

Meowth regards Jim warily for a second, before he sits, tilting his head to the side.

“Meowth?”

“I don't want you wrecking my books, but you can sit with me. If you don't touch anything.”

Meowth emits a soft mewl. He gives a little nod, looking around the clearing. Jim watches him for a few more seconds before turning back to his sums. During the next fifteen minutes, Meowth slowly shuffles closer, until he is pressed against the side of Jim's arm.

“Hello.” Jim holds his hand out, lets Meowth sniff his fingertips before he pets him. Meowth purrs at the contact, pressing up into Jim's touch. “I'm Jim.”

“Meowth.”

“Yes. I know who you are. Are you a wild Meowth?”

“Meow?”

“Do you have a trainer?”

Meowth shakes his head.

“I know some people in town who keep Meowth's as pets.”

Meowth shakes his head again.

“But you're a wild Meowth. Okay. Well, you can sit with me until I have to go home. I don't mind.”

Jim actually rather wants Meowth to stay with him. The children of Coral bore him, so he doesn't care that they don't talk to him, or that they call him names behind his back, but he does get lonely sometimes. Not that he'd admit it. Not out loud, anyway, but he thinks quietly to himself that maybe Meowth could be his friend.

“Meoooowth.”

Meowth nudges his way under Jim's elbow, nuzzling against him before lying at his side with a little yawn. Jim smiles, watching Meowth for a second before he takes out his reading book. As he reads, he idly pets Meowth with his free hand.

*

Meowth follows him all the way to the edge of the forest.

“You have to stay here.”

When Jim turns to walk away, Meowth pads after him.

“No. You have to stay here. In the forest.”

“Mreoow.”

“I can't take you home with me.”

“Meowth?”

“I just can't, okay. I'll come back and see you again. Tomorrow. But you have to stay here.”

Jim holds up his hand, palm facing Meowth in an unspoken signal to stay. He takes a few steps back, and when Meowth doesn't move, he turns and starts on his way home again. It only takes a few seconds for Meowth to be at his side.

“You just don't give up, do you?”

“Meow.”

“Fine. But you have to stay quiet, and you have to stay hidden.”

He sneaks Meowth in his bedroom window, and from then they are inseparable. Meowth sleeps at the foot of his bed, sits on the wall at the edge of the playground while Jim is in class, and walks with him in the forest in the evenings. And that's how Jim ends up with his first Pokémon, who is just as stubborn as he is.

 

 


End file.
